Refugees: It's Not About Crossing the Border, But Staying There

Photos: Hikmet Adal, Ayça Söylemez / bianet

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

After waiting for an opportunity to cross into Greece for a week in the border village of Doyan, Edirne, refugees have been on their way back since Wednesday (March 5).

The families we speak with left their tents and are preparing to return to İstanbul. Most of them being from Afghanistan, those refugees have been staying near the Meriç (Maritsa, Evros) River, which forms a part of the border between Greece and Turkey. As Greece keeps its land border closed, refugees have been trying to cross the river with boats.

Thousands of refugees have gone to border and coastal provinces in the hope of crossing into Europe since Turkey announced on February 28 that it will no longer try to stop migration despite a 2016 agreement with the EU.

CLICK - Refugees on the Road to Europe: 'I Want My Children Safe, Wherever It May Be'

'What is next is unknown'

Kasim Sonhani from Afghanistan says they have been waiting there for a week in the cold and eating the food from aid agencies.

But they are out of hope now, he says. His dream was to go to Germany, but his Turkish is not enough to tell why.

Consisting of four children and 10 adults, Kasim's group is getting ready to leave. They will first head to Uzunköprü, what is next is unknown...

CLICK - Refugee Women at Turkey-Greece Border Waiting for Help

Both the villagers of Doyan and people coming from Edirne help refugees. A family who came from Edirne distributes soup and bread.

A refugee from another group, Mita Abbasi (19) from Afghanistan, also says they will return to İstanbul: "I have been in Turkey for four months. Before coming here, I was in Bayburt. I was working at a textile atelier. We work for three weeks, they don't pay, it's the same in other places. So we wanted to go."

CLICK - Chaos and Tension Prevail in Lesbos Island

Migration Management officials are traveling around border villages with cars, taking refugees who take shelter at mosques to a center in Edirne city. However, they don't give information about what will happen to refugees.

Looking for family with a rental taxi

Hussein Filah, a man in his 60s, says he lost his wife and five children, asking us for help.

We speak with Filan with the help of two people from Afghanistan, one of whom speaks Turkish and Persian and another speaks Arabic, Persian and a little Turkish.

His wife Haldiye and their children got in another car in Edirne and went away, he says. Now he is looking for his family with a taxi he rented.

The next stop for refugees is Uzunköprü, a district near the border. Most of them seem to give up on the "crossing plan."

Return to Edirne

We leave Doyran for Saçlımüsellim, around eight kilometers away. While we don't see refugees along the road, we see two groups, around 20 people who are talking about "crossing."

They say they tried to cross in the morning but returned after the police intervention by Greece. They are returning to Edirne now. When we asked where they will go next, they say, "God is great."

Edirne is 35 kilometers away from Saçlımüsellim. They are walking on the road while hitchhiking rarely passing cars. (AS/HA/VK)